The Council

The council has the overall responsibility for the Institute’s tasks. They constitute the Board of Fonden Martinus Aandsvidenskabelige Institut (The Martinus Institute of Spiritual Science Fund). The work of the council is voluntary and unpaid. The council can be contacted directly at raadet@martinus.dk.

Kenneth Ibsen (chairman of the council)

Kenneth Ibsen (born 1974) is a qualified civil engineer and is currently employed by the Danish National Agency of Environmental Protection as an IT project manager. He has studied Martinus Cosmology since he met it for the first time at the age of 16, and has read most of the literature in the field. Kenneth is a member of the Teaching Group (the voluntary teaching staff at the Martinus Centre and Martinus Institute) and gives regular lectures in Klint and at the Institute. Kenneth lives in the south of the island of Funen with his wife Lise.

Kenneth joined the council in 2019.

Jens Christian Hermansen

Jens Christian (born 1976) has a PhD in sociology and worked for a number of years as a teacher and researcher. He has been familiar with Martinus Cosmology since 1997 and is now responsible for the Martinus Institute’s magazine Kosmos; he is also is a part of the Institute’s day-to-day management team.

Jens Christian lives near the Martinus Centre, Klint on a farm called Solgården, which he is renovating with his wife, Andrea. In his spare time, he works voluntarily for Martinus’s cause and has over the years helped with the washing up, gardening and manual tasks. Today he organises conferences and lectures.

Jens Christian joined the Council in 2018.

Micael Söderberg

Micael was born in 1964 and lives in Årsta in Stockholm with his partner Björn. He began studying Martinus’s analyses in the mid-1980s and has been active in Martinus contexts in Stockholm and Varnhem since 2008. Micael has been a member of the teaching group since 2018 and is one of the co-editors of the Swedish podcast “Kosmologipodden”.

Micael has a master’s degree in sociology and has also studied comparative literature. He currently works with information and supervision for a Swedish local authority. Micael joined the Council in May 2020.

Ingvar Haubjerg Nielsen

Ingvar (born in 1963) trained as a biologist and has worked in education – primarily with teacher training at Den Frie Lærerskole in Ollerup, Denmark – since 1990.

He has always been fascinated by learning something – acquiring new knowledge, understanding and insight – and communicating it to others in an interesting, inspiring and varied way, both in the field of the natural sciences and in the field of philosophy and spiritual science, and all preferably aimed at popular education about life, general education and open, critical dialogue and debate. For him it is also a matter very close to his heart that all human beings are free to explore nature, life and spirit, research being not only an elitist project, but also a popular project and potential.

Ingvar has been actively engaged in Martinus’s spiritual science for a number of years, and has worked voluntarily for this cause, primarily with teaching, but also with gardening and kitchen duties.

Although teaching and communication take up most of his time, he also has a long-standing interest for and experience of association work, board work and the development and well-being of organisations.

Ingvar joined the Council in June 2022.

Arendse Plesner

Arendse Plesner (born 1968) has an MA in musicology and has taken supplementary training in project management, portfolio management and conflict management. In civilian life, she has worked with the production and administration of concerts and crafts, as well as with development projects and case management for a Danish municipality. She has also owned her own business, taught and worked for many years as a singer in a church choir. She lives in a small village in the west of Sjælland (Zealand), 35 km from Klint.

Martinus’s world picture has always been a part of Arendse’s life. She has visited Klint since she was a child and seen the centre develop over the years. Her love of the place, the people and the cosmology increases and grows stronger for every day that passes. As a volunteer, Arendse has worked mostly in the kitchen for many years. For the past 10 years, she has worked as a simultaneous interpreter during the high season, and in 2023 she has made her debut as a lecturer.

Arendse joined the council with great humility in September 2023.

Thomas Størup (substitute member)

Thomas (born in 1977) has a BSc in engineering and construction and currently works as a project manager for AFRY. He first encountered Livets Bog (The Book of Life) at Martinus’s childhood home in the summer of 2006 and has since taken courses
and worked as a volunteer. He moved to Klint in 2022 and has since become increasingly involved in the development of the Centre.

Thomas has been involved with the plans for the expansion and renewal of the Centre’s physical framework, including the internal processes with the employees and volunteer staff and the external processes with various consultants – a process that will continue in the coming years.

Thomas joined the council in 2024.